Magazine control apparatus for yarn winding machines



S. FURST Jan. 9, 1962.

MAGAZINE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR .YARN WINDING MACHINES Filed Feb. 20,1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

MAGAZINE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR YARN WINDING MACHINES Filed Feb. 20, 1959S. FURST Jan. 9, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United Stats Ptet .fiice3,016,166 Patented Jan. 9, 1962 3,016,166 MAGAZINE CONTROL APPARATUS FORYARN WINDING MACHTNES Stefan Fiirst, M. Gladbach, Germany, assignor toWalter Reiners, M. Gladbacli, Germany Filed Feb. 20, 1959, Ser. No.794,771 Claims. (Cl. 221-200) My invention relates to magazine devicesfor accommodating a number of yarn coils in a winding machine where theyarn from the coils is rewound into a larger yarn package of a desiredshape and size. In a more particular aspect, the invention concerns adevice for dispensing individual spinning cops from a magazine containerpreviously filled with cops in such a manner that the respective axes ofall cops are parallel to the container bottom and parallel to eachother.

In accordance with the conventional practice in spinning plants, thecops coming from the spinning machine are stored in a collecting boxwhich, when filled, is conveyed to a winding machine where the cops arerewound into a larger yarn package, such as a flange-type coil or across-wound package, also being called cheese. The rewinding operation,particularly when performed in automatic winding machines, makes itnecessary to provide for a regular supply of new spinning cops to thewinding devices so that the yarn can be rewound without undue stoppages.It is known to provide each individual winding device with its ownmagazine into which the cops are placed by hand and from which a singlecop at a time is dispensed into the winding device upon depletion of thecop previously unwound. If the cops in such a magazine form a singlelayer, the magazine is small and the supply of new coils must bereplenished frequently. On the other hand, if larger magazine containersare used with the cops located in several layers on top of each other,the issuance of only one cop at the proper time becomes unreliable. Thisis because, even if only one cop is dispensed through an opening nearthe bottom of the magazine container, any cops located above the onebeing issued may brace themselves and edge against each other and thusform a bridge. As a result, the gripper, which enters into the containerspace for discharging a cop therefrom, will pass into the vacant spaceformed by the bridge and thus may thereafter leave the container inempty condition, so that no cop is furnished to the winding device.

It is an object of my invention to provide a coil magazine device thatobviates the above-mentioned shortcomings and combines a largecoil-holding capacity with a reliable dispensation of an individual copeachtime the device is called upon to operate.

To achieve these objects, and in accordance with one of the features ofmy invention, I provide an essentially conventional magazine containerthrough whose lateral outlet opening near the container bottom the coilsare gravityissued when released, and I combine such a magazine containerwith an entrainer device and with a lock mechanism which are designedand jointly controlled to cooperate in the following manner. Theentrainer device is located in the container space immediately adjacentto the outlet opening and is movable upwardly and downwardly torespectively uncover and cover the outlet opening. The entrainer deviceforms on its top a cavity for entraining a single cop which, upon thenext following arrival of the retainer device at the bottom of thecontainer, is in'position to issue from the outlet opening onto a guidesurface outside the magazine container as soon as'the lock mechanism atthe remote end portion of the guide surface has acted to release themost forward cop. Since the retainer device, when moving upwardly forselecting and readying a single cop, penetrates into the stack of copsin the magazine, it prevents or destroys and bridge formation of thecops. A single upward and downward reciprocation of the entrainer devicetakes place only once for each coil-discharging operation.

The entrainer proper is preferably designed as a trough which iselongated transversely of the magazine container and which is open notonly upwardly but also along its one longitudinal side that faces theoutlet opening, the upward and downward movement of the entrainer beingperpendicular to the axis of the trough space. The Walls of theentrainer trough may have openings or recesses, or the trough may alsobe formed by wire members. The sidewall of the trough located toward theinterior of the container space is given a height corresponding at leastto one-half of the cop diameter but not larger than the full diameter ofa cop. The downward return motion of the trough terminates at a pointwhere the uppermost edge of the trough is flush with, or below, thebottom of the magazine container. The highest position reached by thatedge at the end of the upward stroke may be at approximately one-half ofthe container height.

In order to prevent the upward movement of the entrainer device frompushing any coils upwardly out of the magazine container, a wavy orstepped bafile may be mounted in the upper range of the front Wall ofthe container, namely above the outlet opening. Such a baffle pushes theuppermost cops in a direction toward the interior of the containerspace, so that only the one cop resting directly upon the retainer or inthe above-mentioned trough will remain located in that trough. The sameeffect can be obtained by giving the front wall of the magazinecontainer a correspondingly inclined position relative to the path ofentrainer motion.

The above-mentioned reciprocating motion of the entrainer device ispreferably controlled by compressed air which, acting upon a piston in acylinder, operates to lift the entrainer device under control by avalve. The lifting motion may be accompanied by the tensioning of areturn spring. Thereafter, the automatically actuated valve connects theinterior of the cylinder with the ambient air so that the piston and theentrainer device are lowered back to the starting position where theentrainer single cop is ready to issue from the outlet opening of themagazine.

According to still another feature. of my invention, a control devicefor actuating the lock mechanism is connected with the entrainer devicein order to have the lock operate in the proper sequential relation tothe entrainer device. The control of the lock is such that it releases acop from the guiding surface when the entrainer device is in itsuppermost position, and permits the next following coil to enter thelock area during the downward'return movement of the entrainer device;

The foregoing and more specific objects and features of my inventionwill be apparent from, and will be mentioned in, the following withreference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. l is a front view of three magazine devices according to theinvention and also shows diagrammatically some of the components of ayarn-package winding station t be serviced by one of the magazinedevices.

FIG. 2 is a lateral view of one of the magazine devices seen in thedirection of the arrow II in FIG. 1; and FIG. 2 also showsdiagrammatically the main component of the winding station of which themagazine forms part. a

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing how response of the yarn guide toabsence of yarn causes a lifting of the takeup spool, the yarn guidebeing shown in the mirror image position relative to that in FIG. 2.

As illustrated, a magazine container 1 accommodates a large number ofspinning cops 2 stacked in several layers one above the other. Thecontainer 1 is placed upon an inclined supporting member 1b so that thebottom of the container space is likewise inclined. The front wall 1a ofthe container has an outlet opening 3 adjacent to the container bottom.The opening 3 extends transversely over the entire width of thecontainer and is so dimensioned that only one cop 2 can pass through ata time.

Located immediately adjacent to the outlet opening 3 is an entrainertrough 4. The trough is open toward the outlet opening 3. The oppositeside wall of the trough extends upwardly a distance approximately equalto onehalf of the cop diameter. The trough 4 is mounted on a rod 5connected with a hydraulic piston 6 movable in a cylinder 7 which isconnected to a control valve 8. In the one magazine device shown in theleft-hand portion of FIG. 1, the lower chamber and the upper chamber ofthe cylinder can be selectively connected by means of valve 8 with acompressed-air line 9. Valve 8 is actuated by a linking rod 10cooperating with a lever 11 and a control cam 12. Cam 12 is mounted on acontrol shaft 13 which performs a single full revolution each time adepleted coil in the winding station is to be replaced by a full copfrom the magazine device. In my US. Patent No. 2,769,599, issuedNovember 6, 1956, and assigned to the assignee of the present inventiona mechanism is disclosed for causing a single cam shaft revolution totake place upon response to a yarn feeler to absence of yarn. As shownin the lower portion of FIG. 3, shaft 13 is rotated in a similar manner,as follows: The feeler member 31 is rotatably mounted and carries acontact 169' located opposite a stationary contact 170 so that when thethread F breaks or is otherwise absent, the feeler member 31 turns aboutits pivot 55 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, to bringcontact 169 into engagement with the contact 170 for closing theillustrated circuit connected to the coil 166. Rotatable cam shaft 13 isadapted to be rotated in the direction of arrow 163 when the pin 164 isremoved from a matching notch in the disc 165 which is fixed to the camshaft 13, this pin being pressed by a spring (not shown) toward theperiphery of this disc 165 so as to enter the notch therein and limitthe rotation of cam shaft 13 to a single revolution after the pin 164 isremoved from disc 165 by energizing of the coil 166 located about thispin 164.

In the illustrated operating condition of FIG. 1, the air line 9 isconnected through valve 8 with the upper cylinder chamber, thus holdingthe entrainer trough 4 in lowermost position where the cop seated in thetrough is ready to issue from the outlet opening 3.

The above-mentioned surface member 117 forms a guide surface 14 outsideof the magazine container 1 and adjacent to the outlet opening 3.Mounted at the lower end of surface member 14 is a lock mechanism 15which is pivoted at 15a and provided with a fork 16 for cooperation witha lug 17 firmly secured to the entrainer device and movable togetherWith the trough 4. During the above-described upward motion imparted tothe entrainer device by the hydraulic piston 6, the lug 17 enters intothe fork 16 only shortly before the upward travel is terminated. Duringthe last portion of the upward movement, the fork 16 and the pivotedlock mechanism 15 are turned counterclockwise. This causes the lockmechanism to withdraw its latchpins 18 from the lowermost cop and tosimultaneously place corresponding latchpins 19 in front of the nextfollowing cop. The released cop then rolls onto an incline 20 and,passing through the intermediate position shown at 2c, is speared upOn athorn 21 which forms part of the supply-coil holding means in thewinding station. At the moment when the cop 2 reaches the thorn 21, thethorn is in the broken-line position shown at 21b in FIG. 2. Thereafter,the thorn is turned about its pivot 21a into the full-line position, andthe cop is then ready for its yarn to be tied together with the yarn endcoining from the package being wound.

The devices for thus controlling the coil holder and other components ofthe winding station are not part of the present invention proper and maycorrespond to those illustrated and described in my co-pendingapplications Serial No. 795,151; Serial No. 728,139; Serial No. 675,677,now abandoned; and in the application of S. Furst and W. Reiners, SerialNo. 750,381, all said applications being assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention. However, a brief description of some of thewinding-station components will be given presently inconjunction withthe schematic illustrations in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the yarn F passes from the cop 2 through yarnguiding means 30 and along a spring-biased yarn guide 31 through atensioner 32 and thence .through a guiding groove 32b of a guiding drum33 onto the takeup spool of the yarn package 34 to be wound. The guidingdrum 3?: is mounted on a shaft 33a continuously driven at constantspeed. The guiding groove 32b of drum 33 extends about the drumperiphery and forms a loop closed upon itself so that during rotation ofthe drum the traveling yarn is reciprocated along the take-up spool 34in order to produce the desired cross-wound yarn package. The take-upspool is rotatably mounted on a holder 55 which is pivoted at 36 to thestationary machine frame structure. As a result, the take-up spool restswith its periphery against the guiding drum 33 and is entrained therebyto rotate at constant peripheral speed.

The yarn guard 31 is essentially a lever which is springbiased againstthe taut portion of the yarn between the guide means 30 and thetensioner 32. Considering only the operating condition here ofparticular interest, namely the event that the cop 2 becomes depleted,it will be recognized that such depletion causes the yarn to vanishbetween the guide 30 and the tensioner 32. As a result, the guard 31deflects to the broken-line position and thereby causes the windingoperation to be stopped by lifting the take-u spool 34 off the rotatingdrum 33 as is more fully described in the above-mentioned co-pendingapplication Serial No. 675,677, for example.

This lifting of the take-up spool off drum 33 by the action of yarnguide 31 is described in greater detail in my copending applicationSerial No. 704,983, filed December 24, 1957, and is summarized herein asfollows: Immediately upon the breaking of the thread F or depletion ofthe supply coil 2, the thread guard 31 turns about its pivot to thedotted line position shown in FIG. 2, for example under the pressure ofa spring (not shown). An extension lever 107, shown in FIG. 3, drivenfrom cam 117' through control rod 112, continuously performs a swingingmotion between the full-line position and the dot-anddash position 107During this swinging motion, the lever 107 enters into the range ofmotion of lever 56. Consequently, when the lever 56 moves upward, due tothe deflection of thread guard 31, it prevents or blocks the extensionlever 107 from performing its normal swinging motion about pivot 105. Asa result, the lever 107, now abutting against the tip of arm 56 whilebeing driven by the control rod 112, moves the link toward the left(FIG. 3). This causes the three-armed lever 93, 96, 97 to turn clockwiseabout its pivot 95. The lever arm 96 now enters into the latch step 103of latch lever 99 where it finds a rigid or firm abutment. Theintermediate friction gear 90, connected by link 91 with the pivot oflever arm 93, is simultaneously pulled downward thus interrupting thedriving connection between the driving gear or drum 89 and thethread-guiding drum 33. At the same time, the pull member 106 fastenedto the link 105 turns the lever 78 clockwise (relative to FIG. 3) aboutits pivot 79. Consequently, lever 78 now'lifts the pawl 81, and thepawl, cooperating with the ratchet teeth 84, lifts the piston rod 83 andthus also the journalling frame 35 with the take-up spool 34.

At the same time, the deflection of yarn guard 31 controls the shaft 13to perform a single start-stop revolution which first effects dofiing ofthe depleted cop and then replacing it by a full cop from the magazineof the winding .The piston 6 now moves upwardly, thus shifting theentrainer trough 4 upward. The trough entrains not only the one coplocated in the trough space, but may also push upwardly a number of theother cops on top of the one to be entrained. In order to prevent suchcops from being inadvertently pushed out of the container space, thefront wall 1a of the container is preferably provided with a bafflemember as shown at 23. This member extends transversely through themagazine space and has a stepped or wavy shape. The uppermost cops hitagainst the bafiie and are directed toward the interior of the magazinespace so that only the one cop denoted by 2a will ultimately remain inthe entrainer trough.

, When the trough reaches the uppermost position shown in the middlemagazine of FIG. 1, the lock mechanism opens so that the most forwardcop is released and passes through the inclined glideway onto the thorn21. At this time, the latch members 19 of the lock mechanism prevent allother cops from being likewise discharged. During the next followingdownward motion of piston 6 and entrainer trough 4, the lock mechanism15 returns to its original locking position. Now the next following copcan advance into the active range of the lock mechanism, and theentrainer trough 4, returning to its lowermost position, can now issuethe one entrained cop 2a through the outlet opening 3 onto the guidesurface 14.

In the meantime, another can enter into the entrainer trough 4. However,if the cops have formed a bridge in the magazine space, the nextfollowing upward movement of entrainer trough14 will dissolve suchbridge formation. In any event, the entrainer trough can always receiveone of the cops and keep it ready for issuance as soon as, during thecoil-exchanging operation of the winding station, the above-describedoperating cycle is again initiated.

As described above, the hydraulic control cylinder in the magazinedevice shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 1 has the upper cylinderspace and the lower cylinder space selectively connected with the airline 9 under control by valve 8. The magazine device shown inthe middleportion of FIG. 1 is somewhat modified with re-' spect to the hydraulicactuation. According to this modification, only the lower cylinder spaceis connectedwith the air line 9 through valve '8, whereas a spring 22 isprovided in the upper cylinder space which is freely connected with theambient air. When the valve 8 is automatically placed in position toapply air pressure in the lower cylinder chamber so that the piston 6lifts the entrainer device, the spring 22 is stressed. When'thereafterthe valve 8 is actuated to connect the lower cylinder space with theambient air, the spring 22 supplies the force necessary for reliablyreturning the piston 6 and the entrainer trough 4 to lowermost position.

The magazine deviceshown in the right-hand portion of FIG. 1 is providedwith a container that can be closed by means of a slidable cover 24. Thecontainer can be filled with cops at the spinning machine and can thenbe closed by means of cover. 24 before transporting it to the windingmachine. In the winding machine, the container 25, in closed condition,is placed upon the supporting structure 26. The front portion 27 of themagazine device forms part of the winding machine and is permanentlyconnected with the supporting structure 26. When the container 25- isplaced in proper position, the magazine portion 27 covers the open sideof the container so that the cops cannot fall out of the container whenthe cover 24 and operative as described above. By using the samecontainer 25 at the spinning machine and the winding machine, thefilling of cops from one container into another is eliminated and anydanger of damage to the cops due to such re-filling is avoided.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, upon a study of thisdisclosure, that my invention permits of various modifications and maybe embodied in devices other than particularly illustrated and describedherein, without departing from the essence of my invention and withinthe scope of the claims annexed hereto.

I claim:

1. With a magazine container adapted for storing a number of spinningcops parallel to each other and having a front wall with a cop outletopening adjacent to the container bottom, the combination of a magazinecontrol device comprising an entrainer structure slidably movable insaid container near said opening and having a top position in which saidentrainer device covers said opening and a bottom position in which saidentrainer device uncovers said opening, said entrainer device having aportion receivingly engageable with only the one supply coil closest tosaid opening when said entrainer device moves from said bottom positionto said top position whereby said one coil is caused to issue throughsaid outlet opening when said entrainer device returns to said bottomposition, a surface structure located outside said container andadjacent said opening and forming a passageway for the coils issuingfrom said opening, a lock disposed on said structure for individually Ireleasing the most forward coil therefrom, and control means connectedwith said retainer device and said lock for actuating them in a givenrelation to each other.

2. With a magazine container adapted for storing a number of spinningcaps parallel to each other and having a front wall with a cop outletopeningadjacent to the container bottom, the combination of a magazinecontrol device comprising an entrainer device having a trough structureextending transversely through said container near said opening, saidtrough structure being slidably movable upwardly and downwardly alongsaid wall and having a top position in which said entrainer devicecovers said opening and a bottom position in which said entrainer deviceuncovers said opening, said trough structure being open at itslongitudinal side facing said openthe one supply coil colsest to saidopening whereby said one coil is caused to issue through said openingwhen said entrainer device returns to said bottom positioma surfacestructure disposed outside said container adjacent said opening andforming a passageway for coils issuing from said opening, a lockdisposed on said structure for individually releasing the most forwardcoil therefrom, and control means, connected with said entrainer deviceand said lock for actuating them in a given relation to each other.

3. In a magazine control device according to claim 2, said troughstructure having its other longitudinal side extend upwardly to a heightgreater than one-half of the cop diameter but smaller than the whole copdiameter when said entrainer device is in said bottom position.

4. In a magazine control device according to claim 1, said front wallhaving an upper portion located above said entrainer structure andinclined relative to the path of entrainer motion and in an upwarddirection toward the interior of said container so as to form a bafilefor deflecting the cops, except the entrained one, away from saidentrainer structure.

5. A magazine control device according to claim 2, comprising a bafflemember of wavy shape mounted in said container above said troughstructure and extending transversely through said container near saidfront wall, said bafile member being upwardly inclined from said walltoward the interior of said container for deflecting the cops, exceptthe entrained one, away from said trough structure.

6. A magazine control device according to claim 1, comprising apneumatic actuator having a cylinder and a piston displaceable in saidcylinder and connected with said entrainer structure for moving thelatter, and valve means for controlling the supply of compressed air tosaid cylinder.

7. A magazine control device according to claim 1, comprising a springconnected with said entrainer structure and tending to hold saidentrainer structure in said bottom position, and a fluid-pressureresponsive actuator having a cylinder and a piston displaceable in saidcylinder, said piston being connected with said entrainer structure formoving it to said top position against the force of said spring whensaid cylinder is under fiuid pressure.

8. A magazine control device according to claim 1,

comprising a reciprocating drive connected with said entrainer devicefor moving it once from said bottom position to said top position andback to said bottom position during each reciprocation of said drive,said control means having coupling means active to join said entrainerdevice with said lock so as to actuate said lock and resetting it tostarting condition during the motion of said entrainer structure.

9. With a magazine container adapted for storing a number of spinningcops parallel to each other and having a front wall with a cop outletopening adjacent to the container bottom, the combination of a magazinecontrol device comprising an entrainer structure slidably movable insaid container near said opening and having a top position in which saidentrainer device covers said opening and a bottom position in which saidentrainer device uncovers said opening, said entrainer device beingengageable with only one supply coil at a time when moving from saidbottom position to said top position whereby said one coil is caused toissue through said outlet opening when said entrainer device returns tosaid bottom position, a surface structure located outside said containerand adjacent said opening and forming a passageway for the coils issuingfrom said opening, a lock disposed on said structure for individuallyreleasing the most forward coil therefrom, and control means connectedwith said retainer device and said lock for actuating them in a givenrelation to each other, a reciprocating drive connected with saidentrainer device for moving it once from said bottom position to saidtop position and back to said bottom position during each reciprocationof said drive, said control means having coupling means active to joinsaid entrainer device with said lock so as to actuate said lock andresetting it to starting condition during the motion of said entrainerstructure, said lock having a pivoted control member movable forward andback for actuating and resetting said lock,- said coupling meanscomprising a fork on said control memher and a nose on said entrainerdevice, said fork being engageable with said nose to be entrainedthereby when said entrainer device is in a given upper range of itsreciprocating travel,

10. A magazine device for storing a number of cops parallel to eachother and dispensing them one at a time, comprising a supportingstructure having an inclined supporting surface, a removable magazinebox for storing said cops, said box resting upon said surface and'havinga movable front cover to be closed when said box is removed from saidsurface and to be opened when said box is on said surface, a containerportion fixed to said supporting structure and located adjacent to saidbox when said box is on said surface so that said portion forms part ofthe magazine space when said cover is open, said container portionhaving a front wall with a cop outlet opening adjacent to the containerbottom, and an entrainer device slidably movable in said containerportion near said opening and having a top position in which saidentrainer device covers said opening and a bottom position in which saidentrainer device uncovers said opening, said entrainer device having aportion receivingly engageable with only the one supply coil closest tosaid opening when said entrainer device moves from said bottom positionto said top position whereby said one coil is caused to issue throughsaid opening when said entrainer device returns to said bottom position,said supporting surface extending outside said container portion at theside adjacent to said opening to form a passageway for the coils issuingfrom said opening, a lock disposed on said structure for individuallyreleasing the most forward coil therefrom, and control means connectedwith said retainer device and said lock for actuating them in a givenrelation to each other.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS437,527 Thompson Sept. 30, 1890 514,947 Luster Feb. 20, 1894 674,601Cody May 21, 1894 1,699,608 Cooke Jan. 22, 1929 1,999,887 Walker Apr.30, 1935 2,019,502 Cisgood Nov. 5, 1935 2,033,586 Noble Mar. 10, 19362,261,654 Livengood Nov. 4, 1941 2,359,984 Garner Oct. 10, 19442,825,488 Nelson Mar. 4, 1958 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OFCORRECTION Patent NoQs ole 'lee -wJanuary g 1962 Stefan Fiir-st It ishereby certified that error appears in the above numberedpatentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should readas corrected below.

- 7 In the. heading to the printed specification between lines 6 and 7insert the following: T a

Claims priority application Germany Feb. 22 1958 Signed and sealed this8th day of May 1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patenf

